Saturday, May 28, 2011

At the Shepherd's Harvest Festival in the twin cities a few weeks ago I was inspired by a woman's scarf which was quite simple, garter stitch length wise, but knit the majority was knit in a fine lace weight mohair and then had single rows of a thicker cotton yarn occasionally thrown in. It looked woven and not knitted at all! Loved it! Although i saw many beautiful hand knits that weekend, this one stuck in my mind and I decided to work this concept into a basic pullover vest and knit out of our brand new lace weight brushed mohair and multi-colored hand dyed Rupunzel (a beautiful 100% tussah silk single ply).

The vest is worked length wise in two pieces (a front and a back) and has short rows across the bottom for a more flattering fit. I think this will look fantastic with a wide belt. I have named it after my favorite Bohemian heroine from "My Antonia" by Willa Cather.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Thank you Minnesota knitters for 2 fun weekends of fiber shows! First was the Yarn Over in Minneapolis put on by the MN Knitters guild, super fun to see Nicky Epstein, Lily Chin, Cat Bordhi, the girls from Ravelry and many more!

The next weekend was a bit warmer thankfully since the Shepherds Harvest in outside at the Washington County fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, MN. But this has to be one of my favorite shows, especially when the weather is nice! Sheep, dog trials, fiber judging, classes, and vendors (4 whole barns of them!) Our booth was next to Briar Rose (a beautiful autumn colored booth that is always full of fiber enthusiasts). We are already planning next years show and have just placed a huge order of natural yarns to dye and restock our empty trailer and shelves in the shop before Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair (Grays Lake, IL June 24-26)